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The U.S. Education System: What Went Wrong? Part II

Of all the educational atrocities that have come to pass since our country’s infancy, the most tragic of all occurred when we took the focus off of the individual. The Founders believed that every individual citizen, no matter their circumstance, could become whatever they wanted if they were willing to work for it

Benjamin Franklin did not grow up surrounded by wealth, but what he lacked in riches he made up for with passionate curiosity. It was Franklin’s constant need-to-know-how-things-worked disposition that led him to success, despite having only spent a year or two in school.

Franklin discovered at an early age that his educational ends were better suited by exploration and experimentation. Unlike his classmates, he did not bode well in the traditional classroom environment.

Fortunately for Franklin, compulsory schooling had not yet been instituted which gave him the ability to learn as he pleased. It is frightening to think what may have occurred if Franklin had been forced to attend the conventional schools he so detested.

Like Franklin, not all children were made to fit into the mold of public school. Public schooling has become a mechanism in which one-size-fits-all, a belief that completely alienates the idea of individualism.

If we hope to achieve a nation filled with minds like Franklin’s, we need to discourage the idea that a uniform curriculum can produce satisfying results.

We need to start embracing the fact that no two children are the same. If we return to a system focused on individual choice, we can better suit the needs of our children.

Instead of producing obedient machines, we need to be producing independent thinkers.

Amen! I assume you are familiar with Ben Franklin's autobiography, one of my favorite little books. He and his peers taught themselves many things, including how to improve writing style, how to do arithmetic (Franklin did badly in his one effort to learn arithmetic through formal education), languages, science, and many other things.

While he did exceptionally well, this style of learning was the norm in America for many years.

The more I learn about Common Core, the more I am reminded that the federal government fails at managing… anything. These uniform national curriculum standards are bad for students, teachers, parents, taxpayers, and really, society as a whole. The federal takeover of education needs to be immediately reversed for the sake of our future prosperity.

Peyton and Eric never thought they would be homeschool parents. Having both been educated in traditional public schools, Peyton had some common misconceptions about homeschooling. In fact, she says she never entertained the idea of homeschooling because "I didn't want my kids to be dumb.”

Parents should be cautious about that to which their kids are exposed, especially in an environment where parental supervision isn't present. At home, television channels can be blocked, web content can be monitored, and most parents are hopefully keeping track of what their kids are reading. However, a lot of parents don’t apply this scrutiny to textbooks being used in the local schools. When one considers what is happening with textbook standards under Common Core, it’s time for that to change.

Here at FreedomWorks, we….well, we know that freedom works. We know that, if the federal government would leave us alone and let market forces work, the American people would flourish and thrive. Whether it's the NSA revelations, the IRS scandal, or the imposing takeover of our health care system, Americans are seeing a grand expansion of federal control.

Something is seriously wrong with our education system. But before we can prescribe any cures we must understand the ailment. Our education problems are too big for sound bites. The system’s faults are too complex for mere political rhetoric.As such, I will be writing a few different blog posts to explain what exactly went wrong with our education system.

Educational shifts are happening all around America. A new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that parents are looking for alternatives to state-led public education, and are shifting towards more traditional methods to educate their children.

In most states, education is the most expensive item in the budget. However, there is frequently some question on exactly how much is being spent and on what. The Cato Institute dug in to see what they could find out about transparency in educational spending around America.